Big Stone County, Minnesota Genealogy

United States

Minnesota

Big Stone County

Guide to Big Stone County, Minnesota ancestry, family history, and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Minnesota Online Genealogy Records

Big Stone County, Minnesota
Map
Location in the state of Minnesota, United States Genealogy
Location of Minnesota in the U.S.
Facts
Founded	February 20, 1862
County Seat	Ortonville
Courthouse
Address	Big Stone County Courthouse 20 SE 2nd Street Ortonville, MN 56278-1544 Phone: 320-839-2308 Big Stone County Website

County Information

Description

The County was named for the Big Stone Lake. The County is located in the west central area of the state.

Big Stone County, Minnesota Record Dates

Known Beginning Dates for Major County Records
Birth*	Marriage	Death*	Court	Land	Probate	Census
1881	1881	1881	1885	1881	1881	1836
Statewide registration started for births in 1900 and deaths in 1908. General compliance by 1915.

County Courthouse

County Recorder has birth, marriage and land records from 1881, divorce and court records from 1885.
Court Judge has probate records.

History

Parent County

• 1862--Big Stone County was created 20 February 1862 from Pierce County; eliminated 20 Feb 1862. County seat: Ortonville

Record Loss

1885 Courthouse was destroyed by fire.

For suggestions about research in places that suffered historic record losses, see:

• Burned Counties. By Michael John Neill at 24-7 Family History Circle.
• When the Records are Gone. By Arlene Eakle at Arlene Eakle's Tennessee Blog.
• Burned Counties Research in the FamilySearch Research Wiki.

Places/Localities

Populated Places

For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit HomeTown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Cities
Barry Beardsley Clinton	Correll Graceville Johnson	Odessa Ortonville
Unincorporated communities
Artichoke Big Stone Colony	Bonanza Grove Foster	Lagoona Beach Yankeetown
Townships
Akron Almond Artichoke Big Stone Browns Valley	Foster Graceville Malta Moonshine Odessa	Ortonville Otrey Prior Toqua

Neighboring Counties

• Grant County, South Dakota
• Lac Qui Parle
• Roberts County, South Dakota
• Stevens
• Swift
• Traverse

Resources

Cemeteries

Tombstone Transcriptions Online	Tombstone Transcriptions in Print	List of Cemeteries in the county
Findagrave.com	Family History Library	Findagrave.com
MNGenWeb Archives	WorldCat	Billion Graves
Tombstone Project		FamilySearch Places
MNInterment
Billion Graves
See Minnesota Cemeteries for more information.

Census

State Census

• 1865 - Minnesota State Census, 1865 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1885 - Minnesota State Census, 1885 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1905 - Minnesota State Census, 1905 at FamilySearch — index and images

Church

Most church records are held by individual churches. Some denominations are gathering their records into a central repository. For more information, see Minnesota Church Records.

List of Churches and Church Parishes

• FamilySearch Places
  

Emigration and Immigration

• 1912 - 1956 - Minnesota Passenger and Crew Lists, 1912-1956 at FamilySearch — index and images

Land

The county register of deeds keeps land records once the land was transferred to private ownership. Abstracts and indexes for these records are generally available at the county courthouse.

Land records for Minnesota are listed in the Place Search of the FamilySearch Catalog under:

MINNESOTA, Big Stone – LAND AND PROPERTY

Local Histories

Local histories are available for Big Stone County, Minnesota Genealogy. County histories may include biographies, church, school and government history, and military information. For more information about local histories, see the wiki page section Minnesota Local Histories.

Maps

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

• FamilySearch Places:Cities and Towns- How to Use FS Places

• 1874 Map of Big Stone, Grant, Stevens, and Traverse counties at David Rumsey Map Collections

Military

World War II

• 1940-1945 - Minnesota, World War II Draft Registration Cards,1940-1947 at FamilySearch — index and images

Naturalization and Citizenship

• 1872-1962 - Minnesota Naturalization Records and Indexes, 1872-1962 at FamilySearch — index

Obituaries

• 1865-2006 - Minnesota Obituaries 1865-2006 at FamilySearch— index and images

Probate

Probate records may include wills, bonds, petitions, accounts, inventories, administrations, orders, decrees, and distributions. They may include the decedent’s date of death, names of his or her spouse, children, parents, siblings, in-laws, etc. See Minnesota Probate Records for additional information. Online Probate Records

• 1801 - 1999 Minnesota Wills and Probate Records 1801-1999 at Ancestry.com — index and images $

Taxation

Since Minnesota tax records include only persons who owned taxable property, many residents were not included. Still they complement land records and can be used in place of missing censuses or the years between censuses. There may also be gaps. For more information, see the wiki page Minnesota Taxation.

Vital Records

Vital Records consist of births, adoptions, marriages, divorces, and deaths recorded on registers, certificates, and documents.

A copy or an extract of most original records can be purchased from the Minnesota Department of Health, Office of Vital Records, or the County Clerk's office of the county where the event occurred. See also Minnesota Vital Records.

Birth

• 1900-1934 Minnesota, Birth Index, 1900-1934 at MyHeritage($) — index
• 1900-1934 Minnesota Births, 1900-1934 at Minnesota Historical Society - free index, images ($)

Marriage

• 1850-2019 WEB: Minnesota, Marriages from the Minnesota Official Marriage System, 1850-2019 at Ancestry($) — index
• 1860 - 1949 Minnesota, County Marriages, 1860-1949 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1976-2003 Minnesota, Marriages, 1976-2003 at MyHeritage($) — index

Death

• 1850-2001 - Minnesota, County Deaths, 1850-2001 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1887-2001 - Minnesota Deaths, 1887-2001 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1904-2001 Minnesota, Death Index, 1904-2001 at MyHeritage($) — index
• 1904-2001 Minnesota Deaths, 1904-2001 at Minnesota Historical Society - free index, images ($)

Societies and Libraries

• Big Stone County Historical Society and Museum
  985 US Highway 12
  Ortonville, MN 56278
  Phone: 320-839-3359
  Website
  Facebook
• Ortonville Public Library
  412 NW 2nd Stret
  Ortonville, MN 56278
  Phone: 320-8390-2494
• Graceville Public Library
  415 Studdart Avenure
  PO Box 457
  Graceville, MN 56240
  Phone: 320-748-7332

Family History Centers

Family History Centers provide one-on-one assistance, free access to center-only databases, and to premium genealogical websites.
FamilySearch Affiliate Libraries have access to most center-only databases, but may not always have full services normally provided by a family history center.

• Family History Center and Affiliate Library Locator

Local Centers and Libraries

• Introduction to Family History Centers

Websites

• FamilySearch Catalog
• Big Stone County, Minnesota at MNGenWeb
• Big Stone County listings at Cyndi's List

This website requires a paid subscription for full access.